As of November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a new variant of concern named Omicron. The US has already identified many cases of this variant and it seemed to boom over the holiday season. The fears of this variant can be calmed with the information the CDC has already been reporting since the beginning of the pandemic: wash your hands, social distance, and most importantly, get vaccinated.  

Getting fully vaccinated has been a social movement since the COVID vaccine’s inception. Most cities have seen lines and wait times of sometimes multiple hours for people to get vaccinated. Safe transportation of vaccines is of the utmost importance due to the sheer amount of demand. 

That is where Thermal Custom Packaging steps in. TCP is a company specializing in transportation solutions for sensitive healthcare and military cargo. They allow for the distribution of many sensitive materials to the front lines, including the COVID Vaccine which can help fight the new Omicron variant. Their Phase Change Material totes (PCM) have incredible technology that not only safely transports the vaccines but maintains the required temperatures for effective medicine. 

PCMs are formulated to keep temperatures stable in a specified temperature range by absorbing or releasing latent energy. TCP’s lightweight insulated totes are capable of transporting between 350 – 2100 doses of Moderno, Pfizer, and J&J vaccine while holding -21-degrees centigrade temperatures for many hours. This same transport system can maintain refrigeration temperatures at 2 to 8 degrees centigrade, using TCP’s custom-made phase change materials, PC0, to store the Moderna vaccine for 30 days and the Pfizer vaccine (before mixing) for 31 days.

 

With the shown decrease in the effectiveness of vaccines over time, in addition to the want for booster vaccines, transportation and distribution is the key. Reliability is everything in today’s market and that’s why choosing PCM over dry ice is crucial. TCP replaces dry ice with chemical reactions. It is sub-zero cooling that is non-toxic and non-hazardous, unlike dry ice. There is no danger of suffocation, explosion, or high shipping cost, and the totes don’t emit greenhouse gas and are made of HDPE that is 100% recyclable. Reliability still stands the most important in these times, and the key difference with the PCM totes is they don’t falter. Dry ice, once procured, dissipates whether you use it or not. PCM is guaranteed to keep vaccines safe and at the desired temperature. 

During these times, the best thing we can do is follow the CDC and stay safe. TCP is here to help you reach those goals, safely and at the right temperature. 

Click here to learn more bout our Covid-19 transport systems.